Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Commons^™

Detection Of Beta-Lactamase Variants In Municipal Wastewater And Fresh Water, Sunil Pandey

Masters Theses

The occurrence and spread of antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) are pressing public health problems worldwide. A key factor contributing to the spread of ARGs is lateral gene transfer. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are measured hot spots of microbial diversity and resistance because they receive polluted wastewater from diverse sources and contain a variety of different environments with dense bacterial loads. Due to the overuse of antibiotics the genetic capacities of microbes have profited. This helps every source of resistance gene and every means of horizontal gene transmission to develop the multiple mechanism of resistance to each antibiotic used clinically, agriculturally, or …

Effects Of Treated Wastewater Effluent On Microbial Community Structure In A Natural Receiving Aquatic System, Matthew D. Hladilek

Masters Theses

Despite our dependency on treatment facilities to condition wastewater for eventual release to the environment, our knowledge regarding the effects of treated water on the local watershed is extremely limited. Responses of these lotic systems to the treated wastewater effluent have been traditionally investigated by examining the benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages and community structure; however, these studies do not address the microbial diversity of the water systems. In the present study, planktonic and benthic bacterial community structure were examined at fourteen sites (from 60 m upstream to 12,100 m downstream) and at two time points along an aquatic system receiving treated …

A Study Of The Free-Floating Phytoplankton Of The Embarras River And Polecat Creek, Coles County, Il, Richard Gary Fried

Masters Theses

An investigation of 2 sites on the Embarras River and 1 site on Polecat Creek was undertaken for a one-year period. Special emphasis was given to phytoplankton species and to their seasonal variations. Approximately 170 species from 8 divisions of algae were encountered during the one-year period.

Temperature was found to have no direct correlation with algal periodicity.

Palmer's organic pollution genus index was applied to determine the approximate levels of organic pollution at all three sampling sites. Only one time during the year (10/1/79), did all three sites suggest high organic pollution.

Transeau's 6 ecological groups were used to …

Pesticide Effects In A Simulated Soil Ecosystem, Raymond J. Samp

Masters Theses

The screening of pesticides to determine which were most inhibitory to bacteria was accomplished by testing the effects of 10 pesticides on 9 different organisms using the disk assay method. Results showed that Gram positive bacteria were more sensitive to all pesticides tested than were the Gram negative bacteria. In addition, the hormone herbicides were found to be the most inhibitory to these bacteria and 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid), a hormone herbicide, was chosen for subsequent in vivo studies.

A soil perfusion apparatus was used to determine the effects of 2,4-D in a typical soil ecosystem. Bacterial plate counts and nutrient …